"The Trial begins… now."

As soon as the voice echoed in the surroundings, Mark lifted his hand slightly and muttered, "No-touch toggle on."

Inside his mind, Ark responded with crisp neutrality.

[Passive Skill: No-Touch, Activated.]

A faint ripple spread across his skin, almost invisible unless someone looked closely.

This ability, as humble as it sounded, was one of the most broken defensive skills in his arsenal.

It created a microscopic dimensional distortion surrounding his body; anything that tried to touch him simply failed unless it carried the power to defy even the laws of this universe. Only 15-circle realm and above beings have such power.

The puppet did not know this.

But then again, the puppet did not care.

As the trial began, the black knight launched forward, its heavy armor producing a shockwave each time its feet struck the earth. It moved impossibly fast for something so heavily armored. With its entire body made of adamantium, it would weigh over 10 tons, and yet, its speed was hypersonic, to the point that even Mark could not see its figure properly. However, he wasn't worried. He stood there, waiting for the puppet.

The puppet reached Mark within a breath. Its sword rose like a black crescent, and with a loud metallic scream, it swung down at Mark, intending to cut him into two halves.

However, the sword struck the invisible barrier with a deafening clang, and then the blade bounced off violently, the impact sending a small tremor through the plain.

The knight paused as if confused, then immediately stepped back and swung again with more force, and then again, trying to find a weakness.

Each strike was a strike made to kill, even a 14-circle. Each strike could shatter mountains. But to the No-Touch barrier, they were nothing more than taps on a window.

As if it had realized it, the puppet finally stopped attacking.

It ran away and created a distance and raised its helm slightly, before stretching the sword above its head. So, instead of attacking him with the sword itself, it intended to swing down the sword with all of its strength to release a wave of energy at its opponent.

And as soon as Mark saw that it raised its sword high above, he realized that. "So, not a dumb one, after all."

Just as the puppet was about to swing down, Mark lifted his palm.

"Activate, Attraction"

At once, a heavy suctional force emerged from his body. The Adamantine Knight flew toward him without being able to control its body. It tried to stop the attack by stabbing the sword into the ground on the way, but the suction force was too much for the puppet. If it had been a 14-circle puppet, it wouldn't have worked, but alas, Mark's 7 points of luck worked in his favor.

And the moment the puppet neared him, Mark unleashed his next move, consuming half of his reserves.

"Activate, Singularity."

A black dot appeared in the center of his palm, and then in the next moment, a violent pull surged outward. The puppet couldn't even escape at such close range, and in the time it took to blink, the entire black knight, armor, sword, and all, was yanked off its feet, vanishing completely into Mark's hand before getting destroyed inside the space.

Silence followed.

Real, profound silence, this time.

Then the illusion cracked like broken glass. The barren plain dissolved piece by piece, replaced by the otherworldly tribunal space once again. The swirling colors returned, and the three tribunals stood there staring at Mark.

If they had faces, their expressions would've been stunned.

The black tribunal let out a loud, almost childlike whoop. "Amazing! Just amazing! That was the fastest anyone has ever destroyed the founder's puppet. You crushed it like it was a child's toy! Hah! This is truly interesting!"

The white tribunal looked at the red one, clearly unsettled. "Red… shouldn't you have chosen something stronger? That was hardly a test. He finished before I could even blink."

The red tribunal's tone, however, was strange, somewhere between resignation and disbelief. "That was the strongest puppet under the third stage of transcendence. There is nothing stronger that we are allowed to use for this trial. I merely used a trick to lie to our challenger."

A heavy silence fell before the red tribunal continued.

It turned to Mark, leaning forward as though studying him from head to toe.

"Challenger Lan Zhen… you have passed all three trials of this stage. You have proven your character, your wisdom, and your strength. There is no doubt, you are worthy of becoming the Head of the Ancient Lan Sect."

The distorted voice softened, becoming more solemn.

"However… there is one more. It was something that our Creator has passed on to us. Whoever passes all three trials shall be given an opportunity to proceed to the inheritance trials. However, this is strictly optional. You may proceed with it, if you are interested, or you may leave with the token and also the treasure the white tribunal promised to bestow upon you."

The red tribunal lowered its head.

"Will you accept?"

Mark stared at the red tribunal, knitting his brows as he repeated the words slowly, "Inheritance trials?"

The red tribunal inclined its faceless head. "Yes. The inheritance trial carries the legacy left behind by the founder of the Ancient Lan Sect. It is a trial that only those who pass the three core tests may challenge. It is not required for you to become sect head, but those who clear it obtain more than just authority. They receive the founder's knowledge and his true inheritance."

The moment the red tribunal spoke the last part, Mark felt something inside him tighten, as though the air had suddenly become heavier around him.

He wasn't sure why.

Perhaps it was the strange coincidence of the founder's name matching his own past-life name, or perhaps it was the way the tribunals' voices subtly shifted when speaking about it, almost reverent.

But uncertain or not, he wasn't the kind of man who would hesitate.

"Alright," Mark said with a grin forming on his lips, "I'll take it. Inheritance trial or whatever you call it, I'm in."

"Very well..."

As the Red tribunal glanced at the black tribunal and then the white, both of them nodded, and the three tribunals lifted their arms in perfect synchronicity.

Their fabric-like bodies began to glow, white like dawn, black like abyss, red like blood and fire. Slowly, they formed a circular portal suspended above the ground. The portal shimmered with three colors, always shifting but never mixing.

"Go," the three voices blended as one. "Beyond this portal lies the trial left behind by the founder. Pass it, and you will inherit his truths. Fail… and you will return with nothing."

Mark didn't bother to hesitate.

He stepped forward and walked straight into the portal.

The world dissolved instantly, like wet paint melting down a canvas, and then just as quickly, it reformed.

Mark found himself standing on a completely plain, smooth stone floor, almost as if someone had polished it endlessly until even dust refused to settle.

In front of him, a staircase made from the same white stone rose, going upwards to somewhere.

He had only taken a breath when a sharp ding rang out through the completely empty space.

Mark's eyes widened as a massive holographic panel materialized above him, clean, crisp, floating at a perfect angle like his own system interface.

[FLOOR 0, Please head upstairs.]

Mark blinked once. Then twice.

"What the hell?" he muttered. "Ark… you didn't do this, right?"

The AI's voice echoed in his mind, calm as always.

[Negative, Master.]

Mark rubbed his forehead, staring at the giant holographic panel again. "Why does this look like the inside of a video game? Don't tell me the founder was secretly a modern guy too…"

A brief silence followed, and Mark couldn't stop the strange feeling creeping into him. The only thing pushing away the idea that the founder was like him was the unmistakable language displayed.

Rather than English or Earth languages, it was Orlon, the universal script spoken here, the script he used back on Earth-192 and in Lan Sect. If the founder had been a transmigrator like him, the trial would have felt different. So he pushed aside the thought and exhaled.

"Alright then… let's see what this is about..." He rolled his shoulders once and took the stairs.

The moment he stepped onto the next level, another holographic screen flashed into existence.

[FLOOR 1, Kill the monsters to clear the floor.]